It’s a nice revolutionary aircraft, however, there aren’t really the same market for it today as there once was. Airbus struggles with the A380+, and it seems that twinjets are taking over. But nevertheless, its size is just amazing.

Personally I love the A380 in real life but in IF I do not like it… The cameras are in the wrong places, the graphics are not the best and the controls are not realistic at all…
I would love to see FDS give the A380 some love and rework the model. But even with the downsides of this aircraft (in IF) I still enjoy flying it in IF and just try and look at the positive parts of this beautiful bird!

If airlines are able to fill the seats then it would be the most profitable type in a long haul airline. For those saying that the 747 is more fuel efficient than the A380, you are wrong. Since it’s heavier, it requires more juice to fly across the Atlantic. The real factor here is the cost per seat which is very low and can be a profit maker if good load factors are achieved or a money guzzler if flown with many empty seats.

Cargo revenue is also generated since it has massive cargo bays.

Comfort is king on the A380. Before I flew on the A380 last year, I was so skeptical about its comfort. Hmmm, over 420 people in a big flying machine, what could go wrong?

After flying on the A380(specifically A6-EDA), I was impressed by the comfort even though it has the older economy class, it was one of my best flights.

I agree. I can’t remember where, but I read somewhere that the A380 is much more profitable that the 748.
And as you said, comfort is unmatched on the A380. I had the chance to go fly Singapore Airlines A380 on a 7 hr flight, and that was the quietest, most comfortable thing I’ve ever flown in. I was able to get good sleep (like REALLY good sleep) even though I was in economy. During approach, the rainy and windy conditions hardly shook the cabin. 👍

Suggest you check out the Flightcast where an A380 pilot, and member of these forums, @Aernout compared the A380 in real life to the the IF model. That episode and also the one where @Heavydriver also is interviewed for an A380 vs B777 discussion are a couple of my favourite Flightcast episodes. ( Thanks @jasonrosewell!)

Airbus recently broke even with the A380. Remember that costs for the project are so high as they make do much of its components in house, in Europe (high labour costs) with new technologies such as composites. It’s hugely under appreciated but it paved the way for the current generation aircraft and triggered a response from Boeing with the B747-8.

I love the A388, it’s the largest, one of the most beautiful passenger aircraft in the skies, flying it is a pleasure aswell, it’s so quiet, so big and spacious and behaves so well in turbulence. Watching the “dance of the ailerons“ is also an amazing thing 💙

I’ve flown the A380 four times. 2x on Air France and 2x on Emirates. I think that it’s a great plane and believe me, it’s crazy quiet on takeoff. I flew in business class though, so I can’t give a fully honest opinion about it. The airlines choose not to update their seating on the A380, which is very disappointing. In all, I think the A380 could’ve been a great plane, but airlines ruin it by not choosing to update the inside.

In all, I think the A380 could’ve been a great plane, but airlines ruin it by not choosing to update the inside.

Airlines do not ruin it. You might not like the look of their cabins, however that is your opinion… A lot of the times the A380 hate comes from Boeing lovers, however Airbus lovers might not like it either. Just my 2 cents.

Its a great plane, just not at the right time. Airlines are switching to lower demand routes and slowly moving away from hub-and-spoke routes, so the A380 slowly loses relevance. It still has its purpose, like on high demand routes like the kangaroo route, but these routes are generally specialised.

Its still one of the greatest marvels of aviation, no doubt, but it just came a tad late.

I understand what you mean, but I think you misunderstood me. I’m not saying that the airlines make the inside ugly, I’m just saying that the seating is very outdated, especially in business class. For example, when I flew to Paris last month, I flew on an AF A380 there, and a 777-300 back. The A380’s business class seats were in a 2-2-2 layout, which is very outdated compared to today’s standards. In the way back, I flew on the 777-300, which was in a 1-2-1 layout, with much more comfortable and newer seats. This is the same with many other A380 airlines. I still think that the A380 is a very nice plane.

It’s the first Super/Heavy airplane made by either Boeing or Airbus to actually make a company looselose money.

Airbus loosesloses money on it everyday they make it

The 787 isn’t bleeding money? What about the 747-8? They’re both dumpster fires at this moment when it comes to P&L. Boeing can keep deferring those development costs, but they still need to look those in the eye at some point.

N1RG:

It’s the first aircraft to be retired within 10 years of service when SIA retired theretheir first one.

Which one? New 748s maybe, but current 744s need quite a lot of love and care to keep them going, throw in engine repairs without sweetheart power-by-the-hour deals from the manufacturer and the numbers become mighty close even without factoring in the increased revenue potential from the A380.

Since you love using SQ as an example, their 744s were fitted with a pretty decent product, terrible by today’s standards, but they were industry-leading in their heyday, that was the days when SQ’s IFE was the WISEMAN 3000. It is nothing compared to the A380’s KrisWorld, but once again, it was industry-leading. Their 744s were configured F16C48Y316, while their newest A380s are configured F6C78W44Y342, with slumping F demand, the new configuration increases J capacity by 62.5%, introduces a W section, and has a healthy increase in Y capacity. Yes, the new planes cost more per hour to operate, but it is much better suited for SQ’s requirements.